


That time a disaster struck Coruscant and everything changed

by Ailelie



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe, Anakin Skywalker Doesn't Turn to the Dark Side, Domestic, F/M, Fluff, M/M, Not!Fic, Obi-Wan Kenobi Needs a Hug, Sharing a Bed
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-30
Updated: 2020-06-30
Packaged: 2021-03-04 01:06:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,761
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24995098
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ailelie/pseuds/Ailelie
Summary: A not!fic in which Padmé goes into labor early, Obi-Wan accidentally becomes a father, Anakin doesn't fall, and some things change and other things don't. The Rebellion wins in the end.Or: How to get married with kids without even trying.
Relationships: Padmé Amidala/Obi-Wan Kenobi/Anakin Skywalker
Comments: 15
Kudos: 238





	That time a disaster struck Coruscant and everything changed

**Author's Note:**

> This is a not!fic. Expect some telling vs showing, plot points summarized, and asides. At the same time, this is a very ficcish not!fic so also expect some written out scenes and dialogue. This was originally written as a series of bullet points, but the formatting didn't transfer well.

It all starts because Padmé goes into labor early.

A rare epic storm or earthquake hits Coruscant, collapsing buildings, and nearly killing Padmé who ends up trapped with Anakin and Obi-Wan. The trauma induces early labor. Together, Obi-Wan and Anakin deliver the twins, but then it takes everything they have to keep those three alive. The twins are _very_ premature and Padmé is _very_ injured.

Obi-Wan uses the Force to keep the twins alive even though that isn’t his expertise at all. He coaches Anakin through doing the same with Padmé. Anakin draws on the Light more confidently than he has in years.

This has three effects:

  1. Anakin realizes the Darkness that has been growing in him.
  2. Obi-Wan realizes just how vital emotions and love are to Anakin’s ability to interact positively with the Force.
  3. Anakin realizes that Obi-Wan is still supports and believes in him. 



“I thought you would hate me,” Anakin says in the dim light of their enclosed space. Padmé’s head is warm on his lap as she sleeps. Her wounds have closed and her deep even breaths have calmed his heart.  
  
Obi-Wan sighs. He has removed his outer robes, the skin of his forearms presses along the skin of the twins as he holds them in his arms. Anakin feel the constant hum of the Force Obi-Wan feeds into them, protecting their too-new skin and keeping their hearts beating and lungs filling. Anakin yearns to hold them, but knows he lacks Obi-Wan’s control. “You’re my family,” Obi-Wan says finally, pulling Anakin’s attention back away from his children. He’d nearly forgotten he’d said anything. “I could never hate you.”

Eventually rescue crews rescue the group. The rescuers insist the group all goes to the hospital. Since Anakin worries his healing of Padmé wasn’t complete and knows Obi-Wan can’t keep the twins alive forever on his own, he agrees.

Anakin and Obi-Wan are cleared quickly. Padmé is given some fluids and kept for observation to ensure she is healing correctly. The twins are placed in special cribs that will help them complete their development.

Anakin goes to see the twins and tries to pull Obi-Wan in with him, but the hospital mandates that only parents are allowed in that area.

Before Obi-Wan can gracefully step away, Anakin in his brilliance says, “He’s their father, too.”

Since polyamory is actually a thing, even if not common, this works.

“Why did you say that?” Obi-Wan asks when they’re alone with the twins.   
  
Anakin hears a thread of hurt in his voice and furrows his brows. “You--they’d be _dead_ without you, Master. You’re as responsible for their lives as I am. Besides--” he looks away to his beautiful son and daughter, awed again by their existence “--you’re family.”

Amazingly, Anakin’s rash declaration isn’t leaked. If it had, things might have gone a bit better for Palpatine…

* * *

Palpatine calls Anakin in to congratulate him on his children and to find a new hook to ensure his Fall since Padmé survived the birth. He tries jealousy by noting he has heard Obi-Wan has visited the children in the parents-only ward. And there were those rumors about Padmé and Obi-Wan meeting together before. He’s very subtle, but Anakin dislikes the slight against Obi-Wan and Padmé. He remembers the twins nestled in Obi-Wan’s bare forearms as they all awaited rescue. He remembers insisting Obi-Wan join him in the ward. He remembers reaffirming their relationship. Palpatine missed a seismic shift and he doesn’t realize it until that very moment when Anakin doesn’t react like he should, when the emotions that arise aren’t jealousy, betrayal, and anger, but indignation, protectiveness, confusion, and pride.

Palpatine immediately apologizes in an off-hand way and blames the stress from the disaster and nightmares for his musings. He is arrogant enough to assume he will win Anakin back easily.

Anakin, however, is very simple in some respects. Once his trust is gone, it is gone. Palpatine’s single misstep has cost him Anakin’s trust and causes Anakin to re-evaluate their previous conversations, especially those pertaining to Obi-Wan.

Anakin returns to the hospital. Padmé is in the ward talking to the twins. Obi-Wan is with her, watching from by the door. Anakin wonders if Obi-Wan joined her on his own or if Padmé or a nurse urged him in. He joins him and murmurs, “I don’t think we can trust the Chancellor.”

Obi-Wan nearly stumbles despite standing still. “What makes you say that?” he asks in a surprisingly even tone.   
  
“Just a feeling I have.”   
  
Obi-Wan hums. He’s happy for this sudden shift in Anakin’s allegiances. Really, he is, but a deeper part of him screams with frustration wanting to know why Anakin was changing _now_. What had happened to prompt this when before he’d refused to hear a single negative word against the man? Obi-Wan manages to say nothing, though. He will, however, commiserate with Padmé later. She’ll understand.

In his review of his old conversations, Anakin considers the Chancellor’s talk of the Jedi. He applies his new lens of distrust and realizes that _maybe_ his dislike for the Council and certain Jedi rules wasn’t because they were unfairly targeting him or trying to diminish his successes, but rather because he wasn’t a very good Jedi.

This is _not_ an easy idea for him to consider. Anakin pulls away from Padmé and Obi-Wan, spending all of his time alone or with Luke and Leia. He hates the idea of not being good enough. Then he wonders what will happen if Luke and Leia are Force sensitive; he knows he cannot give them to the Temple. The Jedi are a family, but Anakin needs something more tangible and personal. Others are happy with the community of siblings and ersatz parents, but Anakin needs more.

He realizes that it isn’t that he isn’t good enough or that he’s too good for the Jedi as the Chancellor had once tried to convince him to believe. He just needs more than the Jedi can give. He can be proud of what he has achieved with them, but he needs more. It is, he thinks, like cutting off his training braid.

Without even realizing what he’s doing, Anakin learns to let go. He returns to Padmé who is talking worriedly to Obi-Wan about his behavior lately and apologizes to them both. Then he tells them that he is leaving the Order. “I needed to think,” he explains. “I didn’t mean to worry you.”

Padmé asks for an explanation, but Anakin isn’t sure _how_ to explain. “This is what I need to do.” Obi-Wan doesn’t say anything. He can’t remember the last time he’d felt Anakin so at peace.

Anakin goes to the Temple to leave the Order, but also shares his new distrust of the Chancellor. Mace, hearing this, asks if Anakin would be willing to help prove whether or not the Chancellor is trustworthy or not. Anakin is more than willing. Mace tells him, in that case, to keep his blade for now. 

Mace tells Anakin to ask the Chancellor for something the Jedi cannot give him and then report back.

Anakin does.

He tells the Chancellor part of the truths that have led him to leave the Order. “I want to be with my family. I need a life.” And some half-truths. “The Order is stifling me!”

Palpatine hides his delight. “They wouldn’t try to keep them from you, would they?” he asks, trying to plant that fear.  
  
Anakin’s anger flares. “They better not,” he growls, even as he reminds himself that he cannot trust Palpatine and that he has already decided to leave the Jedi.

Palpatine should have left the conversation there, but he has been priming Anakin for over a decade and is unaware of the internal changes that have so recently occurred. He saw Anakin distance himself from Obi-Wan and Padmé and assumed the earlier hit had landed better than he’d initially assumed. So he pushes.  
  
“The Jedi have fallen so far from what they were supposed to be--separating families, ignoring the brightest among them. Anakin, my boy, you deserve so much more. Let me help you protect your family, protect all the families from ever being torn apart. The Jedi have stifled your potential for long enough, haven’t they?”   
  
“How can you help me?” Anakin demands. Part of what the Chancellor is saying is true, but part is always true and that is why it hasn’t taken him so long to see the full truth.

Palpatine reveals he is Sith. Anakin attacks. Mace, who had decided to follow Anakin just in case, hears the noise and rushes in. On the edge of losing, Palpatine executes Order 68. Order 68 is nearly identical to Order 66 save in two key ways. (1) It removes Anakin as an exception; (2) It dictates that all Jedi under the age of 10 be captured instead of killed. Young children are so malleable after all.

Palpatine tells Mace and Anakin what the Order does. Mace rushes to the Temple; Anakin rushes to Padmé at the hospital. She and Obi-Wan are holding the twins. Luke and Leia are finally out of their special cribs, which is great since Anakin had no idea how portable those might have been. Obi-Wan looks at him guiltily, but the image of him and Padmé holding the twins does nothing but fill Anakin with warmth. Anakin tells them they have to go _now._

_(Obi-Wan feels guilty because this is twice now he’s gotten to hold Anakin’s children and Anakin hasn’t gotten to once. Padmé is the one who urged him this time. The twins had been released early and she did not think it fair that one child got to be held before the other. Obi-Wan feels like he should have objected more, but deep down, he’d wanted to hold them. Keeping these children alive, watching them become ready for the world in their special cribs--he’s attached. He doesn’t want to imagine what all he would do to keep them happy and safe. This is not, he knows, the Jedi way.)_

Escaping the hospital is a narrow thing.

Escaping Coruscant even narrower.

They need somewhere to go; somewhere Palpatine would never think to look. “Stewjon,” Obi-Wan offers.   
  
“Stewjon?” Padmé asks.   
  
“Where I was born."  
  
“Wait, I thought Coruscant was your homeworld,” Anakin says. “That’s what your records says.”   
  
Obi-Wan smiles. “There may, at some point, have been a bet on who could slice into the Jedi records without getting caught and the winner of this bet may have left the change standing as lasting proof of his victory.”   
  
Padmé chuckles. Anakin gapes.

They go to Stewjon.

* * *

Obi-Wan’s parents have passed, but his brother, Owen welcomes Obi-Wan home. He owns an orchard a short ride from any town. He promises to help keep Obi-Wan and his family safe. Obi-Wan starts to correct him, but then Padmé says, “Thanks.”

Owen’s home isn’t large. He has three bedrooms. He offers one for a nursery and one for Obi-Wan, Anakin, and Padmé to share. He leaves them to go borrow a crib from a not-too-distant neighbor. He has the one Obi-Wan once used as a baby, but it won’t do for two. Left behind with Anakin and Padmé, Obi-Wan stares at the single bed. “I didn’t think…” he trails off, uncertain where his sentence should lead.   
  
Surprisingly, it is Anakin who responds. “It’s fine,” he says, bumping one shoulder against Obi-Wan. “At least this way we can make sure you actually sleep.”   
  
Padmé laughs, bouncing Leia in her arms and nodding to Luke in Anakin’s. “I don’t think any of us will be getting much sleep for a while.”   
  
“Who knows? Maybe with three of us we will,” Anakin says back.   
  
The word “Us” echoes in Obi-Wan’s head. Since _when_ exactly are the three of them an “us”?

Meanwhile, Palpatine declares the Republic no more and names himself Emperor.

They stay safe on the orchard. No one has any reason to hunt for them on Stewjon and Owen runs all the errands into town. In exchange, Padmé offers to take over managing his books for him and Obi-Wan to help maintain the land. Anakin repairs the equipment around the orchard. At first, Padmé and Obi-Wan’s offers are superseded by the twins’ constant needs. It isn’t that Anakin doesn’t help, but the lack of sleep leads to frustration for him and doing repairs calms him. Once the twins’ sleep regulates, however, Obi-Wan and Padmé do help. 

_(Eventually, Anakin will extend his services to others nearby for a reasonable fee. Owen will pick up and return all of the items for repair, though)._

Obi-Wan knows that Owen assumes the three of them are together. He’s overheard him refer to Anakin and Padmé as his in-laws. Obi-Wan tries to dissuade him, but Owen just knowingly notes that Jedi aren’t supposed to have families like this. Every protest just leads to more entanglement until Owen looks at Obi-Wan, hurt, and says that he can trust him. And, at that, Obi-Wan sighs and gives in. “You’re right, of course. You can’t tell anyone.”

And Owen beams at him. “I finally get to be your big brother. You’re safe with me.”

The orchard becomes a haven, strangely insulated from the dangers beyond. Obi-Wan worries that him, Anakin, and the twins being so close together will make them all easier to find, but Anakin counters by asking to learn better shielding. Also, the Emperor seems to be letting the Clones handle the Jedi extermination. Now that they are relatively safe, Anakin lets himself worry aloud, “What if Mace wasn’t able to protect the younglings?”  
  
“The Sith have the Rule of Two.”   
  
“Are you sure Palpatine will follow that?”

That night, in their room, they discuss the need to find out what is happening beyond Stewjon. Anakin paces. Obi-Wan and Padmé sit on their bed.

 _(It amazes Obi-Wan how it has become_ their _bed. On that first night, Anakin bullied him into the center, refusing any offer to sleep on the floor, with his brother, or elsewhere. He said he needed to be sure Obi-Wan slept. He said it’d be easier for him and Padmé to tend the twins if they were on the outside. Then it became a routine. They took turns in the center. Whoever slept on the ends alternated getting up for the twins. On the nights Padmé slept in the middle, she pumped and prepared bottles before bed.  
  
Once the twins started sleeping for longer stretches, Obi-Wan again offered to sleep elsewhere, arguing that surely Anakin wanted time with his wife. Anakin countered that he was already getting “time” with his wife...in the orchard, on an old beat-up sofa he’d found in a storage barn, in the fresher, and anywhere else away from prying eyes, young ears, or their bed.   
  
“We don’t want you elsewhere,” Padmé added, swatting Anakin’s arm and struggling to control her blush.   
  
So then they settled--Anakin in the middle, Padmé on the right, and Obi-Wan on the left. By the time they started worrying anew about the rest of the galaxy, it was routine.) _

Anakin says he can create a secure comms device. They debate who to contact. Bail, Ahsoka, and Feemor top their list.  
  
“Feemor?” Anakin asks, not recognizing the name.   
  
“Master Jinn’s first padawan,” Obi-Wan explains. “They had a falling out and we were never close.”   
  
“I thought Xanatos--”   
  
“As I said,” Obi-Wan says with a mirthless smile, “they had a falling out. He’s older, but wasn’t at the Temple when we left and was never assigned any Clones. If he lives, he could reach out to other Jedi for us. I doubt the Emperor would connect him to us.”   
  
“Do you know how to reach him?”   
  
“I know where he should be.”   
  
So they agreed to try Feemor first as he seems the safest.

Contact takes a while. First Anakin has to build the device. Then they test it. Then they have to find Feemor who has likely moved since Order 68 or may be dead. It ends up taking a few months.

Meanwhile, the twins continue growing.

The twins pick up sounds easily. Padmé rejoices when they first call her “Mama” and Anakin nearly destroys his and Obi-Wan’s careful shielding when they say “Dada.”   
  
In private, when Anakin and Padmé sleep, Obi-Wan walks around the nursery with Leia in his arms (and, lately, at night, it is always Leia who cannot sleep) and talks quietly. “I suppose Obi-Wan is a bit of a mouthful for you. What about Ben? Can you say ‘Ben’?”   
  
Leia pops her lips, mimicking his exaggerated “B,” but doesn’t say his name. A few days later, though, she reaches for him and says, “Baba!” Luke, following his sister’s lead, begins calling him the same.   
_  
(Owen, in these earliest stages, tries for “Uncle Owen” and instead becomes “Uh Oh.”) _

“Please tell your son to stop throwing his food,” Padmé says one morning. When Anakin doesn’t respond, Obi-Wan glances around and then realizes she’s talking to him.  
  
“He isn’t my son,” Obi-Wan protests.   
  
“Baba!” Luke calls from his highchair. He slaps his tray, spattering pudding. “Mess!” he says, proudly.

_(Luke talks more, but Leia is clearer and has a larger vocabulary. Luke soaks up attention and likes taking his toys apart. He crawls and, later, toddles after Anakin, watching him do repairs with wide eyes and excited claps. Leia is a climber. Places they have found her include: the top shelf of the linen cabinet, up a tree, and the top of the refrigerator. Before she could walk, they frequently caught her climbing out of her crib. The twins got toddler beds early just so she’d be safe)._

Eventually Feemor responds. His news is grim. Yoda is alive, but missing. Mace died helping younglings escape. At least half were still caught, though, and have been hidden by the Emperor. The Emperor has recruited Force sensitive people to help Clones track down Jedi. 

Anakin talks Feemor through how to create more secure comms and they ask him to contact Bail and look for Ahsoka. They don’t tell Feemor where they are. Nor does he ask.

Nearly four months later, Bail contacts them using the information Anakin shared with Feemor. Bail says that they can’t touch the Emperor now. He is too powerful; the Jedi are too scattered; he isn’t completely unpopular; and, he has hostages in the form of Jedi children. They need to plan for the long game: an army, funds, a base, safe communication, and ships. They’ll need ways to strengthen allies, especially if the Emperor decides to punish them for not bowing completely to his will. Bail says he and Mon will work on secretly diverting funds. He asks Padmé to work on finding allies and staying safe.

Feemor cannot find Ahsoka.

Shortly after the twins turn two, however, she finds them. Once they are certain she was not followed and that no one will be able to replicate her discovery of them, they let her explain. Some of the Clones were able to break free of their orders after a while. She worked with them to stage her death. Now she’s a smuggler for the Rebellion. If they need to get off the planet safely, she can help. For now, though, she needs a rest.

She notices three things within her first day in the orchard house:

  1. The twins call Obi-Wan “Baba."
  2. Anakin, Obi-Wan, and Padmé all share a bed.
  3. Obi-Wan’s brother clearly thinks they’re together.



Considering the only kisses she spies are between Anakin and Padmé, she knows they’re not. But, when Owen asks her if she had been invited to their wedding, Ahsoka suppresses a wicked grin and forces a frown. “No, but only because they never had a ceremony. The war started so suddenly.” Obi-Wan glares at her; she tosses him an unrepentant grin when Owen turns back to face him.   
  
“You should have told me. I was hurt I wasn’t invited, but now I understand.”   
  
Ahsoka’s grin widens and she walks away, her work done.

At dinner that night, Owen says that he knows a very discreet priestess who could marry them if they wished. Anakin chokes. Ahsoka smothers her smile with her hand. Obi-Wan just looks pained and Padmé curious.  
  
“What makes her discreet?”   
  
“She is a Ninn heretic.”   
  
“A heretic?” Obi-Wan asks, raising a brow.   
  
“Just as nosy as a regular Ninn priestess taking notes on everything, but she says all people, places, and times are equal in the pulse of the galaxy. Should I talk to her?”   
  
Padmé and Anakin trade a glance and then look at Obi-Wan. “We’ll discuss it,” Padmé says.

_(“Why did you say we’d discuss it?” Obi-Wan will demand later that night as they get ready for bed.  
  
“You’d enjoy talking with her about her heresy, wouldn’t you?” Padmé will ask.   
  
“You barely kept yourself from peppering your brother with questions,” Anakin will note.   
  
“If we tell Owen to contact her, he’ll think--he already assumes that we--”   
  
“Share a bed? Raise children together?” Padmé will ask.   
  
“Are family?” Anakin will add.   
  
“That’s different.”   
  
Anakin and Padmé will share another long, loaded glance. “It doesn’t have to be,” Anakin will say, finally. He’ll hold Obi-Wan’s gaze until Obi-Wan looks away.   
  
“Let’s just go to sleep, all right?” Padmé will say, pulling back their blankets. “It’s been a long day.”) _

They don’t speak of it the next day. Obi-Wan avoids each possible conversation. He considers asking Ahsoka to smuggle him away. His heart breaks at the thought of leaving the twins (and Anakin and Padmé) behind.

He does ask Ahsoka. She asks him “why.” He offers a reason, but she sees through him. “I’m not helping you run away, Master.”

So Obi-Wan goes to Anakin and Padmé. He wants to move out, to get some space, but he doesn’t want to say that outright. So instead he points out the danger of Ahsoka coming to his brother’s orchard and staying with them. He mentions the possibility of creating a safehouse, but Owen not having room. He’s building up to suggesting that he move out when Padmé unexpectedly seizes upon the idea and suggests they buy their own house, a house they can build a safe room into, a workshop for Anakin, separate rooms for Luke and Leia as they grow, and so on. Anakin gets caught up in the idea as well. The two of them bounce ideas back and forth and then turn to him when he hasn’t contributed and, with warm smiles, invite him to join their conversation. This isn’t what he meant. He doesn’t have the heart to correct them.

By the time the twins are three, they have their own house not too far from Owen’s. Obi-Wan tries to claim a room for himself, but Anakin points out they still only have one bed, which is technically Owen’s. Besides, they’ll need that extra room for guests if they’re going to act as a safe house. So once again, they’re three to a bed. Obi-Wan refuses to examine his relief at that. He refuses to think about how impossible the idea of sleeping alone has become.

Owen and Anakin re-arrange their repair work so that people now drop their equipment off at Owen’s, Anakin picks it up from him, returns it repaired, and then people pick it up on their own. Padmé continues to work his books and offers up her skills with math and legal jargon anonymously through the community holonet. Several political science students at the University of Zo-Ro on the nearby planet Colstev hire her for anonymous tutoring and editing. Sometimes Owen takes the twins to town with him and lets them meet and play with other kids.

Another year passes.

Luke follows Anakin around, demanding to help. Leia peppers Obi-Wan and Padmé with every question she can imagine. Both twins prove Force-sensitive, which ultimately means an Obi-Wan spends an hour each morning, afternoon, and evening teaching them meditation and basic exercises. Sometimes Anakin helps, but he defers to Obi-Wan as the better teacher.

They don’t discuss marriage or Anakin’s indirect offer to alter their relationship again. Obi-Wan stops planning how to run. They fall back into rhythm.

* * *

When the twins are six, Owen brings up the local school. Both twins are excited. Leia wants to know everything. Luke wants to make friends. After the twins are asleep, the three adults look over the school forms.  
  
“What name should we put on these?” Padmé asks.   
  
“Skywalker is too well-known,” Anakin says, coming in from the other room with drinks.   
  
“Either Naberrie or Amidala would stick out here,” Padmé adds.   
  
They both look at Obi-Wan. He raises his brows. “I believe Kenobi is as famous as Skywalker.”   
  
“Not here,” Anakin counters, setting a drink down in front of Obi-Wan. “People already know Luke and Leia are Owen’s nephew and niece.”   
  
“Are you sure?” Obi-Wan asks, meaning, _Are you sure you want to keep doing this? Are you sure you want to tangle your lives even more with mine?_   
  
“We’ve never doubted,” Padmé says, reaching for his hand. Anakin clasps his shoulder. This kind of casual touch is not new. Obi-Wan can’t remember when it started, when it stopped being new. He looks up at Anakin, but Anakin is looking at Padmé.   
  
“Luke and Leia Kenobi,” he says.   
  
Padmé raises a brow at Obi-Wan and he nods. A smile breaks over her lips like the dawn. Anakin squeezes his shoulder and sits down beside him. “What’s next?”   
  
“Parents’ names. You’ve asked Owen to call you Ben, right, Obi-Wan?”   
  
“Yes,” he says, throat dry. He takes a drink. It is useful to have him on the paperwork. If something happens, he’ll be able to get the twins without needing Anakin or Padmé’s permission this way. Still, the thought of being officially listed as one of their parents is daunting.   
  
“Put me down as Skye Kenobi,” Anakin says. Obi-Wan coughs in surprise, but is ignored. “I’d like to keep something of my name.”   
  
“I’ll put Eri Kenobi down as mine,” Padmé says, “for the same reason.”   
  
“Kenobi?” he croaks.   
  
Anakin leans over, nudging his shoulder against Obi-Wan’s. “We’re family.”

The twins learn their new surname and parents’ names easily. Ahsoka has used their home as a safe house a couple times and both Luke and Leia understand the importance of secrets and the difference between Inside and Outside knowledge. 

At school, Luke is teased for using “Dada” like a baby. They learn the other kids use “Daddy” or “Dad” for fathers and “Mommy” or “Mom” for mothers. No one else at school has a Baba. “Bob” and “Bobby” don’t sound right for their Baba so Leia pesters their teacher about terms for parents and learns that on the nearby planet Colstev, people call their parents “Ma” and “Da” even into adulthood. After ensuring this will not count as baby talk to their peers, Luke and Leia start calling Anakin “Da,” Padmé “Ma,” and Obi-Wan “Ba.”

Obi-Wan asks why and Leia explains. Obi-Wan tells them they shouldn’t worry what other people think and that, since they are older now, they are welcome to call him by his name “Obi-Wan” with those Inside and “Ben” with those Outside. Leia tilts her head in confusion, agrees, and then grabs Luke’s hand and pulls him to her room.

In private, Luke and Leia discuss. “Why does Baba, I mean, Ba want us to use his name?” Luke asks.  
  
Leia scrunches her nose in thought. “Well, people on Stewjon say “Mom” or “Mommy” and people on Colstev say “Ma”, right? So maybe people where Ma, Da, and Ba are from use names.”   
  
Luke considers this, then nods. “That makes sense. So we should use their names Inside. That means Ma is Padmé and Da is--”   
  
“--Anakin,” Leia says. “Calling them by name is weird.”   
  
“Yeah, but if it makes them happy--”   
  
“--we’ll do it.”

So, at dinner that night, Leia says, “Can I have more apple butter, Padmé?” Everyone stills.   
  
"Why did you call me that?" Padmé asks, taking Leia’s bread and spreading more apple butter on it.   
  
Twins, confused, look to Obi-Wan. "Obi-Wan said to use names,” Leia says.   
  
“We thought that was what you used where you’re from,” Luke adds. “We don’t want to sound like babies anymore.”   
  
Obi-Wan winces. “I meant that you could use _my_ name since I’m not your parent like your mother and father are.”   
  
Luke and Leia whip their faces to Anakin and Padmé in horror. “What does he mean?” Leia demands.   
  
“Yes, Obi-Wan,” Padmé says in a deceptively light voice, “what do you mean?”   
  
“I thought we’re family,” Anakin says quietly.   
  
Obi-Wan sputters. “We are, of course. I just meant that it is different. You’re their parents and I’m just--”   
  
“Our Baba,” Luke says, his voice small.   
  
“It isn’t different,” Anakin says. “I told you at the _hospital_ when I first dragged you in to watch over them with me. Luke and Leia would not be alive if not for you. You’re their father, too.”   
  
“We listed you as their parent on their school forms,” Padmé says. “You agreed.”   
  
“For convenience, just in case.”   
  
“They call Owen their uncle.”   
  
“He goaded them into it. It doesn’t mean--”   
  
“You’ve helped us raise them from day one.”   
  
“I was just there. It’d have been true for anyone else, too.”   
  
As this back and forth continues, Luke’s eyes water and Leia’s fists tremble.   
  
“Exactly, you’ve been here. You’re here.”   
  
“I thought about leaving,” Obi-Wan says without meaning to. Anakin sucks in a deep breath and Padmé’s composure shatters.   
  
“You want to leave us?” Luke asks, starting to cry. Across the table, Leia doesn’t say a word. Her silverware shakes.   
  
“No!” Obi-Wan denies. “It was years ago. I talked to Ahsoka and then I thought about moving--”   
  
Padmé closes her eyes. “This house. You wanted to move _from_ us, not _with_ us. I should have known.”   
  
Anakin stands abruptly and walks to Leia. “Let’s go for a walk, Princess,” he says, picking her up. Leia curls immediately into his arms and hides her face against his neck. Obi-Wan sees her shoulders start to shake as Anakin takes her outside.   
  
“I don’t belong here,” Obi-Wan says helplessly.   
  
Padmé smiles sadly at him. “But you do. None of this was ever for convenience or pretend.” She stands and ushers Luke into the other room to calm his tears.   
  
Obi-Wan stares down at his unfinished meal, stands, and clears the table as troubled thoughts roil through his mind.

“We should have pressed for the marriage,” Anakin grouses later in bed to Padmé. Obi-Wan retreated to the guest room after the disastrous dinner and has yet to emerge.  
  
“I don’t think it would have helped,” Padmé says. “I don’t know he’d have understood.”   
  
“Why doesn’t he understand we love him?”   
  
Padmé pauses. “Have we ever said so?” She rolls onto her side and looks at Anakin. “Maybe he needs to hear the exact words. I thought it’d make him uncomfortable, so I never--” she trails off.   
  
Anakin shakes his head. “I haven’t either. I still think of him as this perfect Jedi sometimes and--” he shrugs against the bed sheets.   
  
“We need to tell him,” Padmé says, nudging Anakin. “Now.”

Obi-Wan is awake in the guest room, sitting in a meditative pose, but staring at the wall instead of meditating. He’s always eventually explained away Anakin and Padmé’s behavior toward him. Usually they’re just friendly if physically affectionate. Occasionally they’ll say or do something that shocks him down to the heart, like deciding to take on his surname with barely a thought, but once he has a moment away, he sees the cold logic of each action. He’s been struggling with attachment since Luke and Leia were born, but now that dangerous love has spread. He's scared about what this means. Anakin left the Order; Obi-Wan didn't.  
  
He should have demanded Ahsoka take him away.   
  
He doesn’t need to hope for a place in this family. _Of course Padmé says he belongs in front of the twins; they’re still so young and may make mistakes if confused._ He doesn’t need to hope for each loaded statement to be an affirmation of his role in their lives. _It doesn’t mean anything. It can’t mean anything._   
  
The door opens and Anakin and Padmé spill into the room, clad in their sleep clothes.   
  
“We love you,” Anakin blurts. “We were in bed and realized we never actually said and Padmé said maybe you need to hear it. I love you. Padmé loves you. We love you.”   
  
Obi-Wan blinks. His head blessedly silent.

“Obi-Wan?” Padmé says carefully, closing the door behind them.  
  
Anakin kneels down in front of Obi-Wan. Obi-Wan stares at him. “What?” Obi-Wan asks.   
  
Anakin reaches out and cups Obi-Wan’s cheek with one hand. “I love you,” he says.   
  
Obi-Wan doesn’t mean to press gently into Anakin’s hand. He certainly doesn’t mean for his eyes to water. This is all completely absurd. Padmé kneels next to him and Anakin and draws Obi-Wan’s hands into her own. “I love you,” she says, squeezing his hands.

“Why are you doing this?” Obi-Wan asks.

Anakin’s hand flexes against Obi-Wan’s face. “If I kiss you, will you get it?” he asks.  
  
“Ani!” Padmé scolds, but Anakin doesn’t pay attention.   
  
“What?” Obi-Wan asks. Anakin leans over, slow enough that Obi-Wan can pull away at any time and carefully presses his lips to Obi-Wan’s. Then he pulls away, dropping his hand to lay over Padmé’s.

“Why?” Obi-Wan asks again.

“Because we love you,” Padmé says. “Because we have loved you and will love you. And we need you to believe us.”

“You are our partner in this marriage,” Anakin says. “We didn’t just take your name because it was safest. You are Luke and Leia’s father. Even--” he swallows “--even if you leave, you will still be their father and our--” he glances to Padmé.

“Our husband, if you want to be.”

“I need to think about this,” Obi-Wan says. The words bounce around his head; he can make no sense of them.

“We understand,” Padmé says, giving Anakin a warning look. 

He rolls his eyes at her and stands. “Sure, but can you please come to bed? It’s too big without you.”

Obi-Wan laughs, even though it isn’t funny, and agrees.

The next morning at breakfast, the twins regard Obi-Wan warily. “I’m sorry for confusing and upsetting you yesterday,” he says.  
  
“You’re still our Ba?” Luke asks.   
  
Obi-Wan nods. “I am.”   
  
“And we don’t have to call you by name?’   
  
“I’m happy you don’t,” Obi-Wan says.   
  
Luke smiles. “Good.”   
  
Obi-Wan looks at Leia. She stands on her chair to tower over him. “You can’t take it back again,” she says.   
  
“I won’t,” he promises.   
  
“Your Ba was just worried about you getting teased,” Anakin says. “How many other kids have a Da, a Ma, _and_ a Ba?”   
  
“None of them,” Leia says, sitting down. “But that’s stupid, Ba. I told you that’s not why Luke got teased.”   
  
“I know,” Obi-Wan says, grateful for the grace of Anakin’s lie. “It makes you different, though.”   
  
“We’re already different,” Leia argues. “No one else in our class has a twin.”   
  
“You’re right. I guess I was just being silly.”   
  
“That’s all right,” Luke says. “I’m silly sometimes, too.”   
  
And the discussion is put to rest. Obi-Wan is Luke and Leia’s father.

The other discussion is still open: is he Anakin and Padmé’s husband? The fact that he can't immediately, definitively say "no" has him reeling.

Before they can talk, Ahsoka contacts them needing help.

A scientist on the run from the Empire has been caught and Saw Guerra, an insurgent leader, has taken his daughter. “She’s 9 years old. She deserves better than being a child soldier,” Ahsoka says. “I need someone to help me convince Saw of that.” Obi-Wan agrees to go.

Anakin and Padmé aren’t happy, but they understand. As soon as he is gone, they start turning the guest room into a room for the girl.

* * *

The mission is more difficult than expected when Saw agrees only if Obi-Wan helps him and his people steal some weapons. Obi-Wan and Ahsoka agree. The mission is dangerous and Saw’s team doesn't trust him and Ahsoka fully. At one point, he is alone and certain he is unlikely to escape alive and that realization fills him with regret.

But that realization also fills him with peace. He’d been worried that his love for his family and his lust for Anakin and Padmé (which _was not helped_ by their occasional tryst against a tree or by the thinness of the master bathroom door or the marks they both enjoyed leaving one another) was pushing him away from the Light, that he’d be unable to put them aside when needed, but here, despite his regrets, he is still resolute.

He can love them, he realizes, and still be a Jedi. 

He returns to Stewjon full of hope for the future.

* * *

He has been gone for months. Leia is furious with him. Luke crashes into him for a hug. Obi-Wan beckons Jyn forward.  
  
“This is Jyn Erso,” he says. “She’s going to stay with us for now on. Jyn, this is Anakin and Padmé, but outside of this house and these people, please call them Skye and Eri just like you call me Ben.”   
  
“Or you can call them Ma and Da,” Luke says. “Like we do. Obi-Wan is Ba. Ma says you’re going to be our sister now?”   
  
Jyn stares at them all and plays with her necklace.   
  
“Why don’t I show you your room?” Obi-Wan asks. “I did promise you one, didn’t I?”   
  
“Yes.”   
  
He takes her to the guest room and leaves her to process the day. He’s learned that she likes space after getting overwhelmed.   
  
“Is Jyn mad at me, Ba?” Luke asks when Obi-Wan returns.   
  
“No,” Obi-Wan says. “She’s just tired and sad.” He gathers Luke into a hug. “I missed you.”   
  
“I missed you, too,” Luke says. Then scrambling back down, he adds, “Wait, I made you something.” And darts out the door.   
  
“He’ll be a while,” Anakin says. He reaches out and snags one of Obi-Wan’s hands. “I missed you, too.”   
  
Padmé takes the other. “Me too.”   
  
“Same,” Obi-Wan says, squeezing their hands. Then, summoning his courage, he asks, “And you still love me?”   
  
“Always,” they both answer.   
  
Obi-Wan nods. “Same.”   
  
The realization takes a moment to land, but then Anakin is pulling him into a tight hug. “Good. Think your brother still knows that heretic priestess?”   
  
Padmé laughs. “Too fast, Ani. We need to take this slow.”   
  
“We’ve been taking it slow, Angel,” Anakin protests, releasing Obi-Wan. “How much--”   
  
Obi-Wan interrupts him with a kiss. Padmé gasps. Obi-Wan pulls back. Anakin is blushing and radiant with happiness.   
  
“My turn?” Padmé asks, a hesitant note in her voice.   
  
“Your turn,” Obi-Wan agrees, bending down to kiss her. Anakin squeezes his hand and Obi-Wan can tell he is pleased by what he sees. Padmé’s free hand tangles in his hair. When he pulls back, she stares at him in wonder.   
  
“We should ask Owen about his priestess,” she says.   
  
Obi-Wan laughs. “I’ll ask.”   
  
Both Anakin and Padmé surge forward to hug him and he wraps his arms around them both.   
  
“In the words of our daughter,” Padmé says, “No take-backs.”   
  
“No take-backs,” Obi-Wan promises.

* * *

The Rebellion forms as it once did. The proximity of the Kenobi family to Colstev means that what would have been the University of Zo-Ro Massacre is a battle where most escape alive. That is the end of their peaceful lives on Stewjon, but all are satisfied. When Jyn learns her father is still alive, Luke and Leia go with her to rescue him. Luke stops Cassian from shooting Galen. With Galen safe, no one has to go to Scarif. The Emperor doesn’t have Vader, but he does have his Acolytes--Jedi children each carefully manipulated until they Fell. While none is as powerful as Vader would have been, they work together and are still terrifying.

In the final battle, it is Anakin vs. Palpatine. Anakin ends up doing something basically suicidal, accepting his own death if it also means Palpatine dies. Luke and Leia save Anakin just in time; they don’t save the Emperor and he dies.

Anakin, not trusting the Emperor even in death, makes _sure_ he is dead, which means no Snoke in the future. Trouble still arises thanks to the Acolytes, but that’s a different story.


End file.
